1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to computerized detection and enforcement tools for protection of intellectual property rights and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for detecting unauthorized copying of intellectual property.
2. The Background Art
In certain situations, it is a relatively simple endeavor to determine when another is copying or otherwise infringing on one's intellectual property rights. For example, if one were an owner of a patent, one might find in the market place and purchase the product of a potential infringer. That product may then be compared at the convenience of the patent owner against the patent owner's claims. Similarly, if one has a copyrighted work one may often purchase the works or publications of another and compare them to determine whether copyright infringement has occurred.
However, certain materials may not lend themselves to a simple determination of patent infringement, copyright infringement, or other intellectual property violation. For example, a particular software package completed and provided in an executable form will typically not identify the source code from which the executable was derived. Such source code is typically only obtained after litigation has been initiated and the source material or source code has been produced in discovery. Discovery proceedings often occur later as opposed to earlier in a lawsuit, and virtually never before. Accordingly, one may not discover whether or not a new issue of copyright infringement of intellectual property has occurred until much effort (read: money) has been expended in the suit.
Similarly, for other digital media such as sound recordings, different sampling techniques and modifications may mask the fact that one recording originates in another recording or other work protected by copyright registrations or the like. Also, in certain applications, the sheer volume of electronic applications being transferred does not lend itself to ready examination or comparison to identify the details of the content of that traffic. A prodigious effort would be required to determine whether that content represents a misappropriation or other violation of some intellectual property right. As a result, significant violations of intellectual property rights may pass undetected.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system providing rapid analysis of digital traffic or data streams to provide information regarding mathematically recognizable patterns in the content thereof. In particular, one needs automated review for assessing violations of the intellectual property rights of others. Additionally, what is needed is a method of reducing or translating digital content to a common dominator or simplified structural form so that it may be readily compared to other similarly reduced, transformed, or translated material. Such a system may enable and improve online detection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in the digital area where massive volumes of data pass through servers, undetectable except in the most blatant and obvious cases.